Coin-controlled vending-machine.



No. 800,450. PATENTED SEPT 26, 1905 W. W. KLEMM & J. H. THAYER. COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 3, 1904.

Wneas es.

UNITED STATES earner anion.

\VILLIAM 1V. KLEMM AND JAMES H. THAYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COIN-CONTROLLED VENDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 26, 1905.

Application filed October S, 1904. Serial No. 226,894.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WVILLIAM WV. KLEMM and J Arms H. THAYER, citizens of the United States. residing at Chicago, in the'county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin- Controlled Vending-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in an apparatus for the reception of coin of a prescribed denomination or value and the delivery of goods in exchange therefor; and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novel arrangement, and operation of the various parts thereof, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

. The principal object of the invention is to provide a coin-controlled vending machine or apparatus which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction, strong, durable, and efficient in operation, and so made that thede livery of the goods will be automatic or will be'efi'ected by the deposit of a coin or its equivalent without the use of a push or pull bar or other device for freeing the goods, as is employed in such machines heretofore made.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be disclosed in the subjoined description and explanation.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which our invention pertains to make and use the same, we will now proceed to describe it, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a face view of a portion of a vending-machine embodying our invention and showing a part of the casing broken away to disclose one of the magazines or receptacles for the articles to be delivered and the means for delivering the same. Fig 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, and Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view of one of the delivery-levers.

Like numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts throughout the different views of the drawings.

The referencenumeral 5 indicates the main frame or casing, which may be made of any suitable size, form, and material, but preferably of wood and rectangular in cross-section. The front part of the casing is provided with an opening 6, in which is located a piece of glass 7 to render a portion of the magazines or receptacles 8 for the goods to be delivered visible in order that it may be ascertained whether said magazines or receptacles are emptied or filled. Secured to a vertical partition 9, located in the rear portion of the casing and extending forwardly from the partition, are horizontally-projecting brackets 10 and 11, each of which is provided with an opening or openings to receive one or more of the magazines or article-receptacles 8, which may be of any suitable size and form, but in the present instance are shown as being tubular in shape. As shown in the draw ings, these magazines or receptacles are located parallel with the partition, and they may be adjustably supported on the brackets 10 and 11 by means of collars 12, surrounding each of the receptacles 8 just above the bracket 10 or upper supporting-bracket. The lower front portion of each of the receptacles 8 is cut away, as at 13, to disclose the interior thereof in order that it may be seen whether or not the receptacles contain the articles 1% or goods to be delivered. Horizontally located below the articles 8 is a shelf 15, on which the lower article 14 will rest at its lower end and will support the adjacent article at its upper end.

Located transversely in the casing and slightly above the shelf 15 is a rod 16, on which is fulcrumed one or more delivery-levers 17, each of which is provided with an opening 18 to register with the lower end of the receptacle or magazine 8, under which said lever is fulcrumed. That portion of each of the levers 17 located under its respective article-receptacle 8 is somewhat heavier than the oppositely-extending portion of said lever, so that it will be overbalanced in the direction of the article-receptacle, which in the present instance is shown as being the front portion of the lever. By thus overbalancing each of the levers it is apparent that the rear portion 18 thereof will be raised so as to rest against the lower edge of the partition 9, which is provided with a number of coin-chutes 19, which are preferably located directly in the rear of the receptacles 8 and vertically parallel therewith. Each of these coin-chutes has its upper end extending through the top of the casing to receive the coins 20, which when deposited in the chutes l9 therefor will pass through the same and strike the rear ends of the lever 17, thus causing said levers by reason of the weight of the coin to be raised at their front portions to the positions shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings, thus releasing the lower article 1 1 (which, it will be understood, normally rests in the opening 18 of the lever) from the shelf 15 and allowing it to pass out of the casing, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings. After the coin 20 has thus actuated the lever 17 it (the coin) may drop into a box or drawer 21, located in the lower portion of the casing, when the lever 17 will assume its normal or horizontal position, at which time another one of the articles 14 will pass into the opening 18 of the lever and will rest at its lower end upon the shelt'15, as will be readily understood by reference to the drawings.

In order to prevent access to the lower portion of the casing, yet to permit of the free passage of the articles 14: after they have been liberated by the deposit of a coin, we provide the lower front portion of the case with an inwardly and downwardly inclined transverse piece 21, from which vertically depends a piece 22, the lower edge of which is located some distance from a transverse piece 23, which extends from the bottom of the casing upwardly and rearwardly below the shelf 15, which supports the articles to be delivered, which as they fall from the supporting-shelf 15 will slide from the inclined portion 21 of the casing to the piece 2-3 and out through the opening between the last-named piece and the downwardly-extending portion 22, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings.

From the foregoing and by reference to the drawings-it will be clearly seen and readily understood that the delivery of the goods is effected directly by the action of the coin on the levers, which are swung upward from inclosing the article, and that the articles are delivered without the instrumentality of any other releasing device.

It is apparent that we may construct our machine with one or more magazines or receptacles for the goods with a corresponding number of delivery-leversand coin-chutes-without departing from the spiritof ourinvention and that the coin-chutes may be arranged in any suitable manner, so as to discharge the coin against the levers.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A coin-controlled apparatus, consisting of a suitably-supported receptacle for the articles to be delivered, an apertured lever fulcrunied so that its opening will normally lie under the opening in the lower end of said receptacle, and a coin-chute arranged to discharge against said lever to actuate the same, whereby the weight of the coin will depress that portion of the lever opposite its opening and will raise the apertured portion of the lever, substantially as described.

2. A coin-controlled apparatus, consisting of a receptacle for the articles to be delivered, an apertu red lever fulcrumed so that its opening will normally register with the opening in the lower end of said receptacle, a supporting-shelf located below the lever, and a coin chute arranged to discharge against said lever, whereby the same will be swung upward from inclosing one of the articles, substantially as descrihedl 3. In a coin-controlled vending-machine, the combination with a casing having in its front lower portion an opening and provided at the upper edge of said opening with an inwardly and downwardly inclined transverse picce,of a transverse piece extendingupwardl y from the bottom of the casing and rearwardly at a distance from the first-named inclined piece, a receptacle for the articles to be delivered vertically supported in said casing, a shelf horizontally located below the lower end of said receptacle, an apertured lever fulcrumed so that its opening will register with the opening in the lower end of said receptacle, and a coin-chute arranged to discharge against said lever, whereby the same will be swung upward from inclosing one of the articles, substantially as described.

WVILLIAM W. KLEMM. JAMES H. THAYER. Vitnesses:

CHAS. G. TILLMAN, A. GUs'rAFsoN. 

